The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-04-20
SHIRLEY CARSTONE.
By ELIZA ARCHARD.
CONTINUED
CHAPTER XIII.
"sHE is MY WIFE,


ley followed Mr.. Morrison out the hallway.
She went around in the porch to the window
where the face had been. The master was
nowhere about No living creature was
there. She stepped out upon the lawn be-
yond. and peered about under the starlight.
She saw nothing, heard nothing
All was night and silence
So still it was out there, SO entirely all
nature seemed unconscious of anything un-
usual, that Shirley could almost have be-
lieved nothing unusual had happened and
that she had imagined the face in the glass
There was a dim light inside the room, a
brighter light outside in the porch. Might
not the optical laws Of refraction and refec-
tion, aided by crooked pane of glass, have
twisted the image of some very commonplace
object into that distorted, demoniac SHAPED
She had read Of such things.
At any rate, Shirley was not one to fret
herself unnecessarily. She had had so many
real worries in her life that she never went
|(out Of her way to hunt up unreal ones.
\ Above All ma before all too, there was ths
/ supfs y comforting t'anhhfs 4 anytSsag
\ was Wrong, be, the master, would set Il right.
4 He would see that no harm came to her
That was the thought in her mind as she
went back inside the cottage, and to her own
room.
The room, it will be remembered was upon
the ground floor.
The girl sat down beside the low, broad
window She was too restless, too happy
to sleep. She said over and again to herself:
"Fate has been very good to me, after all.
never believed such joy was to be for me,
Shirley Carstone"
The master loved her. He had told her so.
That was enough. No vision of guile, Of
treachery Or of trouble crossed her thought
Her noble, innocent nature saw no falseness,
no weakness in those she loved. She trusted
them wholly. Yea, to the worlds end.
Looking down the valley into the years
that were to come, Shirley saw only bright
ness. Perplexities would come perhaps. Her
hands would still be full of work, that she
knew. Nay, as the world went, it might be
long before he could come and claim her,
She even thought of that. What then? The
master loved her. That knowledge would be
a strange, sweet presence that walked beside
her day by day to the end, turning hen heavy
load into lightness She laughed in the face
Of storm, Of darkness, of the deadly light
ming. The sweet, magic presence that walked
evermore beside her would touch them and
turn all her life into blue sky and rose cloud.
And her poem2 The intense girl heart gave
glad bound. Half her inspiration had
seemed gone when the master left her under
the willows that day long ago. Now it came
back. Now she would indeed write her poem.
She would prove herself worthy of such
lover. He should be SO proud of her, in the
blessed years to come!
Rapt in her sweet visions Shirley sat there
hour after hour. Morning was at hand. The
mysterious thrill of the coming day quivered
in the dark air. A timid bird chirped family,
The breath of lilies swept in at the open
window
Shirley started up, smiled and threw her
self upon her bed, dressed as she was. She
had spun her web of thought out for the
time In five minutes she was in the land Of
dreams.
Shirley was sound sleeper The fashion
Shirley was not of that kind She had a
clear conscience and good digestion, heaven
be praised
Therefore when human shape trod cat
like over the low window sill and into the
room, she did not waken.
The first knowledge Shirley had was an
awful consciousness that she was dying Of
suffocation. A great weight was upon her
chest. Something was pressed over her
mouth and nostrils, sitting her, swift and
deadly. She tried to breathe, she tried to
~ ott. IN tsaxsa- 'ssssetya.
lappe1 from bead to foot in some heavy COW
ering that made it impossible for her to use
her hands or arms. She fought blindly a
moment or two, and then gave over.
n1~x -
master, would he ever know how she diedg
In the last gleam of consciousness, a foolish
tale of her childhood flashed through her
memory A cat had sat upon child's breast,
it was said, and drawn the breath from its
nostrils, and 50 suffocated it Was it cat
upon her breasta
Then she remembered no more
But just in the nick of time, the instant
before it would have been too late forever,
man sprang in at the window. The man was
Mr.. Morrison. With giant strength he seized
the creature upon the bed and flung her of.
1t was a woman, with waxy white face and
wild, demoniac eyes. He snatched the pill
low and heavy covering from Shirleys
senseless form. he lifted her, he famed her
with his hand, called her his Shirley, his
darling, he implored her to speak to him.
The wild woman flew at him like pan
ther. She tore his face with her nails She
buried her teeth in his hand to the bone
Once more he mastered her by main
strength and dragged her away from the bed
Two strong men had followed hm in through
the window One of them carried strait
jacket. He gave her into their hands. 1t
was with difficulty that even they could hold
her.
Shirley opened her eyes The wild woman
saw it, and made as If she would spring at
her again. But the two keepers had got her
into the straitjacket.
Mr.. Morrison motioned them to be gone.
sTake that devil away he said, "before l
crush the life out of herl"
The wild woman snarled at him like a saw
age beast The keepers forced her out through
the doorway. As she went she gave George
Morrison last look OF helpless rage, and
muttered:
al hate you'll And you would marry mel"
Shirley heard her say it She lived over
the horror Of those few moments in her |
dreams, sometimes in after years, and would |
waken to find herself standing upright |
shrieking frightfully, her brow wet with |
drops of cold perspiIation.
She had heard the wild woman mutter;
II hate you'll And you could marry mel"
The master stood still by the door with q |
deathly pale face, and blood dripping from |
bis hand A streak of blood coursed down |
bis cheeks Shirley turned her eyes on him.
She was quite in her senses now.
aWho Is that womanga she said.
The concentrated gall and wormwood of all |
humanity was in his voice as be answered;
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